Connecticut Budget Deal Relies on Back Tax Revenue

Receive the latest local updates in your inbox

Connecticut Democrats are counting on the state's tax department to track down $75 million more in unpaid taxes to help balance their proposed $9 billion budget plan.

The House of Representatives was expected to vote Saturday on the deal reached by the General Assembly's majority Democrats and Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy this week. It's unclear when the Senate will vote on the budget bill.

Minority Republicans learned about the last-minute addition of $75 million in projected revenue after asking about why "miscellaneous tax" revenues in a budget document jumped from $20.2 million to $95.2 million.

Benjamin Barnes, Malloy's budget chief, said the Department of Revenue Services learned from last year's tax amnesty program there's an opportunity to collect more unpaid taxes by using new tools, such as data-mining techniques.